


Iris

by BriellaBleu



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9090130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriellaBleu/pseuds/BriellaBleu
Summary: When the love of your life finds out the you've been lying to her for months and the only word you can utter is her name...





	

She knew. He didn’t know how she knew but she knew. She hadn’t said a word but the glassy sheen of her eyes, the defensive tilt of her shoulders and the trembling of her hands gave her away. 

She knew. 

“Iris…” He whispered tentatively as he approached her slowly as if she was a scared, cornered animal that would attack at the slightest provocation. 

She didn’t say a word but a tear slid down her cheek. 

“Iris, please.” He pleaded and he knew he sounded pathetic but he didn’t care. “Please say something.

"Take it off.” She finally whispered haltingly. “Take off the mask…Flash.” 

This was the moment of truth. He knew she knew, but at the same time he also knew that taking off his mask would change everything, once and for all. There was no coming back from this. He was about to lose his best friend–the love of his life and there was no one to blame but himself. 

He couldn’t do it. 

Tears pricked his eyes and his hands shook so much that they begin to vibrate out of control. He wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to lose her.

“Iris…”

“TAKE IT OFF!” She screamed as she swiped angrily at the tears on her face. “Take if off or I swear to God I will take it off for you and if I have to do that I promise you I’ll never forgive you. Ever." 

Barry glanced around at the darkened shadows of Jitters. This was their place. It almost seemed fitting that this would be the place where he was ultimately unmasked. He had went over how he would tell Iris a million times and even in the worst case scenarios he never imagined he would feel like this. This crushing fear that was drowning him. The guilt, the anger, the sadness. He never imagined that she would look at him like that, his Iris. The betrayal he expected but the hurt…God the hurt was too much to bare. She was breaking his heart but it was only fair–he had already broken hers. 

"Iris…” He pleaded one last time, silently begging her to save him…to save them, even though he knew it was too late. 

“Take it off." 

Barry swallowed past the lump in his throat and he tugged the hood of his mask back slowly. He heard her gasp as his messy brown hair sprang free from it’s confine. He kept his head down as he settled the red material at the back of his neck. The atmosphere in Jitters was completely silent and Barry felt as if his normally fast heart was only beating one beat a minute. He felt dead. 

He finally lifted his head and at the sight of his face Iris’ brave demeanor all but shattered as her face crumpled. "Oh Barry…” she cried. 

Yes, he was dead. And this was Hell. 

“Iris…” He choked out. “Please, let me explain." 

Tears ran unchecked down her face as Iris walked the few steps that separated them until she was mere inches away from him. She raised her hand and Barry closed his eyes in preparation of the slap he so rightly deserved. He held his breath as he waited for the sting from her hand connecting to his face, but it never came. Instead he felt Iris’ cool fingers trail cautiously along his cheek. The tip of her index finger brushed along the corner of his mouth leaving the spot she touched tingling in it’s wake. The backs of her fingers glided on the underside of his chin before flitting down his Adam’s apple lightly. He swallowed reflexively and winced inwardly at the loud gulping noise it made but if Iris heard it she didn’t let it show. Her fingers trailed down further until she was tracing the lightning bolt on his chest. 

"You’re the Flash.” She finally said matter-of-factly but her voice was dull and lifeless. 

“Iris…” He whispered as the feeling of dread that never really went away started to bubble in his chest again. “If you’ll just let me explain…”

“I feel like I should have known all along.” She continued on as if she didn’t hear him, “it’s almost like it was the most obvious thing in the world but I was too stupid to see it." 

"Iris…" 

"But I’m not stupid,” She interrupted him as her voice rose slightly, “I was lied to, for months, by the people I trusted the most." 

Barry fought the urge to take a step back because Iris’ words felt like tiny but fatal blows that he needed to protect himself from. 

"Iris…"He begged as he gently grabbed her forearms, "Please let me fix this.”   
She pushed away from him and backed up several feet.

“Fix this? You want to fix this?” She spat out angrily, “You can’t fix this Barry! You’ve lied to me for MONTHS! You let me look like a fool! You’ve had plenty of opportunities to fix this and to be honest with me but you chose not to. So, no you don’t get to fix this now that I figured it out for myself." 

"I am so sorry.” He whispered shamefully as he hung his head, “I never wanted you to find out like this." 

"No, apparently you didn’t want me to find out at all." 

"That’s not true,” he answered defensively, “I wanted you to know from day one but Joe–" 

"Don’t put this on my Dad!” She yelled as she backed away from him several more feet, “You are a grown man Barry Allen and you lied to me because you wanted to." 

"I wanted to keep you safe! You don’t know what’s out there Iris–" 

"Because you wouldn’t tell me! Keeping me in the dark doesn’t make all the scary metahumans disappear, it just makes me vulnerable and unequipped to protect myself. You did that, Barry. You, my dad and Eddie…you all did that." 

"I’m sorry." 

"I don’t want you apology, Barry. It’s too late for that." 

"Iris…" 

"Please stop saying my name.” She whispered as wrapped her arms around her body. “Nobody says my name like you do…the first time I heard ‘The Flash’ say it I should have known it was you." 

Barry swallowed thickly and he blinked to clear the tears that were gathering in the corner of his eyes. 

"Please don’t hate me.” He pleaded, “I don’t care if it takes the rest of my life I promise you I will make it up to you. I will prove to you that I’m still the same Barry that you’ve always known." 

"Don’t make promises you can’t keep. You’re not my Barry. You’re not my best friend. My best friend wouldn’t lie to me. My best friend wouldn’t let me walk around ignorant of all the evil in this city. My best friend would love me enough to be honest with me, despite what my father or anybody else said. My best friend would put me first because he knows that I would do the same for him in a heartbeat. I would have never lied to you Barry. I would have never kept you out of the loop. You’re not my best friend, my best friend died the night he was struck by lightning. I don’t know who you are." 

Iris words hit him with with ten times the force of Girder’s strongest punch. He felt it right in the solar plexus to the point that he was gasping for air. He had faced a multitude of metahumans, including the man that killed his mother, but nothing brought him to his knees like hearing Iris tell him that he was dead to her. He watched helplessly as she gave him one last hurt filled look before turning away and heading towards the exit. 

"Iris, please…” He begged one last time and he felt a moment of hope when Iris’ hand paused on the door handle. He waited with bated breath for her to say she had second thoughts or that she didn’t mean what she had just said. He waited for her to give him the slightest sign that they weren’t over for good and that he could start picking up the shards of his broken heart so that it could eventually be mended back together again. He waited. 

He waited. 

He waited.

He waited in vain. 

“Goodbye Barry,” She finally said quietly before opening the door and walking out of Jitters. 

“Iris.” Barry called out one last time to the deathly quiet of the now empty cafe. He looked around at their place and the need to run and escape was greater than it ever but his legs wouldn’t move. He crumpled to the ground as violent sobs wracked his body. She was gone. He lost her. 

Iris.


End file.
